Innocence
by Beastly007
Summary: When an unknown force attacks Bulla Briefs, the Z Fighters are brought together to save their world. But all sorts of trouble arise when Bulla's friend reveals hidden connections, powers and scars that strike a certain purple haired man's heart. TrunksxOC Set after DBZ, but no connection to GT.
1. Chapter 1: A Disturbance

**Hey guys! This is my first fanfiction so any rates and reviews are appreciated. Hope you enjoy and thanks for reading.  
*Disclaimer: I own any characters you don't recognize as well as the plot line, but aside from that it all goes to their respective owners.***

**~Mica**

Gohan sat working at his computer desk on the second story of his little home on the outskirts of the city. Pan was at her grandfather's house (14 years old already; wow they grow up fast!) and Videl was reading downstairs on the living room couch. He had just finished his essay for the other university professors and was now just going over it and checking for revisions. All was peaceful, even outside. He had the perfect view out onto the sky in front of him, and the little birds chirped happily above the other houses.

But…wait…

"Videl?" Gohan called anxiously. He ran down the stairs towards the sound of her voice.

"What's wrong?" Came his wife's worried reply.

"Look at the birds. Don't you think it's strange that they're all flying to one place? It's perfectly warm so they shouldn't have to mi-"

_BOOM!  
_  
A loud, thunderous crash came from the left of the half Saiyan. He would've passed it off for a construction problem, as they were adding more houses to his area; however that was the exact place all the birds were escaping from. Also, it was a Sunday and the Christian head chief of the construction sites always gave his workers a rest day on Sundays. To further increase Gohan's suspicions, he felt a large ki appear spasmodically amongst the construction paraphernalia.

"Call someone!" Gohan yelled in a panic. "I'm going to check what's going on."

"But-" Videl tried to protest but her husband was already out the door. Now middle aged and dressed in a fancy shirt and slacks, she knew Gohan wouldn't be able to fight very well amongst younger fighters, especially if they had a strong ki. She quickly dialed Trunks, as Capsule Corp. was the closest to their house, then she called Goku and Goten.

Videl sat down on her couch, trying not to sob as she stared at a picture of her little family in a time of peace. Now, the peace seemed like it was going to dissolve in a matter of minutes.

* * *

Gohan flew off to the construction site, cursing his office clothes and lack of training for not having him prepared for the situation before him. He did admit to himself that he was afraid of what he was going to see, but he quickly pushed that thought aside, remembering that the strongest fighters in the universe had trained him.

Gohan crept up slowly to the site of the ki, keeping most of his body hidden by an array of nearby trees. Something had obviously exploded towards his left, but aside from that the land was barren.

"This land must've not been touched by the developers yet," Gohan mused, straining his neck for signs of movement and ki. Suddenly, he felt a small, familiar energy coming from the remains of the metal pieces on the explosion site. Gohan jogged over to a closer expansion of forest and rubbed his glasses to make sure he was seeing right.

Fashion-loving, fighting-hating, 16 year old Bulla Briefs was running terrified from an enormous gunmetal airship that seemed intent on killing her.


	2. Chapter 2: Gravity

Gohan felt himself freeze up in shock.

"Oh no…" He thought. "The writing…another planet…and they probably want Vegeta! Curses!"

Gohan wished that he had instead found Trunks being chased by the aliens, because as much as he loved the younger boy, he knew that Trunks could easily fend for himself in a battle. Bulla on the other hand, had never trained in her entire life.

He quickly dashed closer to the blue haired girl. He now realized that she was screaming as she ran, and that another girl was with her. She was slightly taller than Bulla but still quite small. Her dark, straight hair fell in front of her pale face and her eyes were wide with fear. She was probably one of Bulla's human friends from high school and while she wasn't screaming, she did indeed look very shocked.

As Gohan tried to help the girls, he felt a weird force on him. Like he had eaten 20 pounds of ramen and forgot all about it…

"Rats!" He cursed. The unknown ship must have some sort of power! Gohan quickly related the heavy feeling to the same one in Bulma's gravity machine and pushed harder against it to no avail. The invisible shield got stronger as he neared the battle, but oddly the shield was focused on the girls rather than the ship.

He decided the best way to get through this was to attack the shield and fly off with the teenagers. He tried hitting it, but it resulted in the same crushing pain as what happened when he tried to fly through it. Gohan then tried ki blasts and even a kamehameha but the shield's power just increased and sent his ki flying to the ground.

By the time the rubble below him had become ripped up in chunks and incinerated in others, Gohan thought of the last thing he could do: teleport. However, the half Saiyan had no idea how close the shield went to the girls so he decided against it after imagining the pain of being crushed into dust by something he couldn't even see.

Frustrated, he ran his hands through his hair and turned around to head back home. He estimated the gravity was at about 700 kg once he tried to get within 10 metres of the teens, which was more Vegeta's training style than Gohan's. He was in no shape to fight creatures like that, and he only hoped that he could find his father and the rest of the Z Fighters in time to save Bulla.

Gohan shuddered at the thought of what the Saiyan Prince would do if he learned that Gohan wasn't strong enough to break through a shield to save the princess, and in a moment of indecision he turned around to see how far Bulla had made it without being hurt.

The ship had advanced extremely close to them, and Gohan watched in horror as huge rockets made out of some weird ki-charged metal flew right at the two teenagers. The rockets descended…descended…and….

He felt a small sob escape his throat. The rockets had exploded, a huge crater had been created and there was no way the girls had made it out alive.

Gohan never talked much to the young blue haired girl because she didn't get along with tomboy Pan much and Gohan didn't get along with explosively angry Vegeta much. He reprimanded himself for being so close to her brother but not her until it was too late.

"Damn you!" He swore to the aliens. Gohan wiped his tears away and continued cursing at whatever he could. The next subject of his anger was towards the crater, who insisted on just sitting there buzzing and moving and being just plain annoying!

Wait a second...

Buzzing? Moving? Craters didn't do that!

Gohan quickly got up and flew closer to the odd dark shape. As he neared it, Gohan noticed what he thought was a crater was actually a black circle of energy. The black bubble felt like the gravity from before, but a hundred times stronger. It was a thicker shield too, tainted with purple streaks as the gravity pulsed alive with so much force that it was clearly visible to the naked eye. Huge ribbons of rainbow ki slammed in and out of the gravity as it circled whatever was beneath it.

The Saiyan felt his mouth drop as he stared in awe at the sight before him. The gravity shields he had been battling to get through hadn't come from the ship but rather from something protecting the girls.

The gravity was so strong and deadly that he didn't dare go any closer without more information on it, but Gohan was almost positive that it had annihilated the rockets. The ship had already fled, and now there was only one more problem:

Were the girls in the eye of the storm or had they gotten crushed as well?

"Bulla! BULLA!" He yelled anxiously. Gohan strained his ears but heard nothing.

"Can you hear me?!" He yelled again, sending a strong blast of ki towards the cocoon of gravity. It seemed to have sunk down with the ki blast, and the pressure was pushing it down to the ground.

It descended slowly at first but then kept continuing until it bore a large crater in the rocky earth. Gohan saw a flash of blue and felt hope swell inside of him.

At last, the gravity faded. Gohan bounded quickly over the moat of crushed earth and shuddered as he saw how powerful it was. Sure, he'd seen many battles and wasn't afraid of strong ki, but the thought of fighting it made him worried.

This definitely was not the time for a fight. Everything had been so peaceful, so calm, that the Z Fighters were starting to settle down. Things were good.

Unfortunately, all this meant that the younger fighters didn't train much anymore, and the older ones were well, getting old despite still being kickass. The idea of middle aged fighters, the elderly, people old enough to be dead and a 14 year old girl fighting this alien weren't too promising.

After the smoke had cleared around the crater, Gohan felt a sigh of relief pass through him as he felt Bulla's ki. He gently scooped her up into his arms and checked her for damage. She had dirt on her usually pristine designer clothing, but aside from that she was bruise and scratch free.

He was about to take off when he remembered Bulla's friend and panicked when he couldn't sense another energy. Gohan scoped the area and furrowed his brow as he saw the dark haired human several metres from where Bulla had laid.

"I must be getting rusty," he thought. He decided that the girl must be very exhausted and therefore her ki was weak and almost undetectable. Gohan picked up both of the unconscious girls and got ready to fly away. He had some difficulty picking up the human, but passed it off as just the weight of the two teenagers combined.

As Gohan flew farther, and as he reached his home, he relaxed. The Z Fighters were all going to be there when he returned, and they were going to solve this problem.


	3. Chapter 3: Of Red Faces & Angry Vegetas

"He's here!" Trunks shouted over to the worried group of people sitting in Gohan's living room.

It was quite cramped, because there were nine people there, not including himself: Goku, Goten, Videl, Pan, Vegeta, Bulma, Krillin, 18 and Yamcha. Marron and Chi Chi had stayed at home, promising to come if they were needed but otherwise encouraged to stay in their homes in case of a fight. Pan barely made it to the group, but it was her house so eventually they just let her stay.

Vegeta stormed his way through the crows, pushing everyone aside as he flew up to reach Gohan.

"What in the world is wrong with him?" Yamcha asked in cocky annoyance. He looked at Bulma for a reply (some people never really get over things), but instantly got silenced by her screams.

"BUULLLLLAA!" She wailed. Bulma dashed over to the two men who had landed and began screaming her head off.

"OHMYGOODNESSBULLAISSHEOKAYISSHEHURTWHATTHEHELLHAP PENEDTOHER-"

"WOMAN! Calm the fuck down or else you'll wake the brat!" Vegeta hissed at her. His emotions were as angry and superior as ever, but worry was laced through his words.

Trunks and the rest of the group anxiously ran up to Bulla and surrounded her in a circle of bodies. Trunks carefully examined his sister for any harm, and sighed in relief. She seemed to be only sleeping.

"What happened Gohan?" He asked in a hushed tone. All eyes turned to Gohan as he told the group what had happened. Vegeta looked furious, and gave Bulla to Trunks so that he could run around the yard screaming and destroying things. An exasperated Bulma went out back to get him, and only then did anyone notice the other girl that Gohan had laid down on the couch.

"Gohan who…?" Krillin asked looking down at the human girl. He seemed just as shocked as Gohan was, and he tilted his head in concentration as he tried to find her ki.

"I know," Gohan sighed. "A friend of Bulla's that was with her in the wrong place at the wrong time. Human, probably shocked and tired with a weak ki. I didn't want to just leave her there, so I just took her back here."

While Gohan was talking, 18 had walked over and picked up the girl. She had an odd look on her face, as if the girl reminded her of a math problem that was impossible to solve.

"Trunks come on. Let's put them upstairs." She looked uncomfortable, and it seemed that 18 didn't like touching the girl. Odd, because after Krillin and especially Marron, 18 no longer had any distaste towards humans. Videl went up to show them the house's guest room, and all was quiet in the living room.

Trunks walked up the stairs carrying his sister. He was worried for her, but he knew that despite her looks she was still a half Saiyan.

"She'll be fine," he tried to convince himself. But what really worried Trunks was the other girl. She was human and probably got the shock of her life. He looked over 18's shoulder to examine her as they walked up the stairs.

She was small and slender, and her body was made out of soft curves. Her skin was a pretty shade of creamy white, and Trunks imagined she would have rosy cheeks if she hadn't had passed out. Her hair was long, dark and straight, framing her face in curtains of black silk. Contradicting the softness of her body was a strong face. It wasn't in a disagreeable way, but rather it showed that she was strong. She had on a black leather jacket and underneath that she wore a pale blue tank top, black skirt and black boots with silver detailing.

Trunks felt wrong as he looked at her. She was around 9 or 10 years younger than him, and that fact made him feel like a pedophile. He also couldn't help but notice that she was extremely pretty, which made him feel even more inappropriate.

He looked up as they reached the top of the landing, and blushed a furious shade of beet red as he saw 18. She was glaring at Trunks, pulling the girl against her body so that he couldn't look at her anymore. Trunks tried to hide his face behind his hair, but what had happened was very obvious to Videl as the red clashed horribly with his purple hair.

Trunks thought that Videl would react like 18, as they were both mothers of teenage girls. However, Videl gave him amused yet encouraging smile instead. Trunks dated all the time back in his teenage years, but he had never found a decent girl that was right for him. His relationships lasted at the most for a week or two, usually because they said he either wasn't serious enough, way too serious, or Trunks just lost interest when commitment involved too much hassles or became too boring. Maybe it was seeing Goten get over serious, over physical, and then getting used or dumped by some skank that made Trunks so apprehensive.

So by the time he was 20, Trunks gave up on dating. Then he spent the next 8 years focusing hard on his career, and girls just escaped his mind. The company was booming, and his family was proud, but late night's locked up in a paper filled office did get lonely. She was the first girl he had noticed for a very long time, and Trunks' face heated up even more as he realized that Videl must've saw that.

They reached the guest bedroom and Trunks sighed in relief as the two mothers forgot about him. The guest room was decently sized, including two beds that could remain separate or be pushed together. He put Bulla down in one, and the pretty girl was put into the second. The beds were both twin sized, with soft white pillows and bedding. The walls were pale blue, and the floor was made up of beige wood. Beside the beds was a small round table with an alarm clock and a flower vase sitting on it. Aside from the said furniture and the closet in the corner, the room was otherwise pretty bare. The room was created so that it was customizable for anyone to feel comfortable here, and Trunks appreciated it.

He nodded to Videl and 18 who left to do whatever business was to be done and looked down at his sister. She was sleeping peacefully, and her eye bags were already starting to disappear.

Trunks smiled. She looked like the little girl she had been before she became a teenager. Trunks didn't mind that his sister was somewhat of a diva, but it did get annoying when they went shopping. He didn't mind helping Bulla out with the paying and carrying her bags, but she always tried to make him get out of his suit and glasses and wear something "hip". Sometimes he missed the little girl who complimented him even when his outfit horribly mismatched, but it was at times like these when he realized she was still here.

A grin broke across his face, the sleeping Bulla reassuring him that she only acted the way she did because she loved him. He turned away from her to let her sleep in peace, and stared up at the walls instead. However, this seemed to be a very difficult task for Trunks. The walls were the same shade of blue as the girl's shirt, and while he wasn't being inappropriate and thinking of that particular area, it reminded him greatly of her. He felt a sudden longing to touch her, and decided to turn around and check on her.

She seemed so calm as she slept. Trunks felt a pang in his heart while he watched her. On one hand, he wanted to get to know this girl and be her friend, possible more. But on the other hand, she was his little sister's friend and very young. It wasn't like it would be illegal (hopefully, as she seemed older than Bulla), or that she was a child, but Trunks just felt unsure of how much people would approve of his interests in someone who was barely an adult.

He shook the thoughts out of his head, why was he being so weird and obsessive? Yes, over thinking was one of his qualities, but she was just some girl that Bulla had sort of brought home. Bulla always brought home friends. He felt foolish for feeling like jello around her, and decided to take a walk.

Trunks was about to put his hands on the beds to help himself up, and as he rose he accidentally grazed the girl's shoulder. Her eyes instantly snapped open, and she jolted up incredibly fast. She pushed herself back so that she was as far away from Trunks as the bed would allow her.

He understood this perfectly, she had gone through a lot. Yet there was something very intimidating about her dark eyes. Trunks were sure that he'd seen those eyes before, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

He also tried not to dwell on the fact that she seemed so defensive against him, after all he was a giant purple creature with his hand on her bed while she slept. Which is totally not creepy at all Trunks.

Sure. You keep telling yourself that.

The girl raised her eyebrows at him, and Trunks tried not to turn red as he stopped staring. Trunks decided to end the awkward silence his worrying had started by speaking up first. He wanted to sound firm and convincing, but not so loud that it'll wake up Bulla, and not so creepily caring that it would make the girl want to leave.

"I know that a lot has happened today and that you're probably very stressed and afraid…" Trunks began.

"You don't have to do that," the girl cut him off with. Her voice wasn't unkind, but she said it as if it was annoyingly obvious. She spoke sharp, like a strict teacher would, but soft at the same time. There was no trace of emotion in her voice, aside from boredom. But Trunks could still hear the stress hidden behind her façade.

"I beg your pardon?" He asked sympathetically. Trunks was confused, but concerned with the way she was speaking. It reminded him of his father, when he tried to act like he didn't care.

"I don't need your sympathy," she said through gritted teeth. But she sounded like she actually did in fact want it.

"And I know about all your Saiyans," she finished in a matter-of-fact fashion. The girl turned to stare off at the wall, wringing her hands together. Trunks decided that she probably didn't want to talk. He gave her a small smile and stood up to leave.

"What's your name again?" she asked hurriedly before Trunks could make it outside. She looked like she felt kind of sorry, but Trunks didn't think of her as rude. She reminded him of his father, Piccolo and 18 who all had very good reasons to be the way they were. Not wanting to pry, he responded quickly.

"Trunks."

The girl smiled. She looked a million times more beautiful when she did that.

"And you are…?"

"Thea."

Trunks smiled and walked out the door, her face stuck in his head the whole way down.

"How are they?" His mother asked once Trunks came into her view. It seemed that she had gotten Vegeta to come back into the living room, but he was still pacing angrily behind the couch.

"They're fine. Bulla's still sleeping and Thea woke up a couple of minutes ago. She seemed like she just wanted to rest though so I left them alone."

"Humph!" Vegeta grunted at Trunks then continued pacing. His mother sighed in relief and smiled happily, and so did quite a few of the other people in the room.

"Gosh I sure hope Bulla's okay are you sure we can't just wake her up?" Pan whined to Trunks.

Videl hugged her daughter and made a suggestion. "Pan honey we need to let her rest. Then when she's ready we'll have all the time to talk to her."

"While she's resting, we should probably figure out what to do with the other girl. How about we get one of you guys to explain it to her and demonstrate ki too so that she'll believe us?"

"How about you go check on your daughter and tell her friend too Vegeta?" Goku said to his friend in a robustly cheerful manner. Several people nodded timidly up at him to encourage him into going, but Vegeta let out a huge groan (he didn't like people in general, let alone random humans).

So Yamcha volunteered to go tell her. He looked overly excited to do this however, and Trunks' eyes narrowed into little slits as he noticed that. Yamcha was a lot older now, but still single. Trunks knew of all his playboy escapades, and he also knew that they hadn't stopped. Trunks made a speedy interference with Yamcha's cocky gait at the foot of the stairs. Trunks knew that he wouldn't do anything to Bulla due to his fear of Vegeta, but he didn't want the womanizer pretty much alone in a bedroom with Thea.

"She already knows," Trunks spoke up, eyeing Yamcha warningly.

Sensing the tension between an angry Trunks and a hormonal Yamcha, Vegeta rolled his eyes and reluctantly proceeded to go check on the girls.

"Oh Vegeta's so silly needing all of this just to check on his own kid. Spend some time with her ya big baboon!" Bulma yelled up the stairs. Vegeta growled and continued upwards. Once he was gone, several in the group chuckled.

"But wait, how does she know all of this? About all of us? Does she have some secret connection to one of us or something?" Goku asked puzzled.

Bulma smiled and rolled her eyes at Goku, shockingly resembling Vegeta. "Well haven't you ever had that best friend that you've told everything to? Bulla's been real close to Thea after her freshman year when she was failing the computer science class she got stuck in. Thea, then a junior, tutored Bulla and helped her pass. So now they're super close and Bulla probably just told her! End of story; nice and simpl-"

"AAAAAHHHHHHHH!" An ear splitting scream cut off Bulma, and it came from the guest bedroom upstairs.

"Bulla!" Her mother shrieked as the friends sprinted up the stairs.

**I just want to thank all of you for the views and overall support. Extra thank yous to Gingerkit for reviewing and the user who followed my story (I don't have your name-apologies! But thank you). I start school in a couple of days, but I'll still be working on updating as often as I can.**

**~Mica **


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